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BMA Support Your Surgery campaign - phase two

September 2008

Dear colleague

I am writing to let you know that the second phase of the BMA’s Support Your Surgery campaign has been launched today, and a campaign pack has been sent to each GP practice in England.

The Support Your Surgery campaign has so far been a huge success. In just three weeks, hard-working GP practices across England collected almost 1.3 million signatures, demonstrating overwhelming patient support for NHS general practice. The petition was presented to Downing Street on 12 June and subsequently provoked a significant response from the Prime Minister and other ministers, as well as debate in the national and local media.

Despite the incredible success of Phase One of the campaign, the threat to NHS general practice has not gone away. The Government still intends to introduce GP-led health centres throughout England and polyclinics in London. It is essential that we continue to promote and defend our profession, and this is why the Support Your Surgery campaign will extend to the end of 2008 and beyond.

In Phase Two of the campaign we have once again focused on informing patients and the public across England of the implications of Government plans for primary care. To help you to work with your patients, each GP practice in England has been sent a pack containing the following:

• 8 colour posters (2 x A2, 2 x A3, and 4 x A4)
• 100 colour leaflets
• 1 toolkit

At this point, we believe that the most effective way that patients and the public (and you as GPs) can make their views heard is to make sure they tell others exactly how strongly they feel about supporting their own local surgery. To help you and your patients to do this, the toolkit contains advice on how to contact the local media, local MPs and local council Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

In particular, I would like to recommend that you consider contacting your local Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as we have heard a number of reports from around the country that they are becoming much more engaged in this process. We believe that contacting Overview and Scrutiny Committees could be especially useful in areas where local PCTs do not appear to have held proper consultations.

The BMA will continue to promote the campaign both nationally and regionally, but to succeed we need every practice across the country to support the campaign. Please continue to explain to your patients what the Government’s plans could mean for them, and what they can do to make sure their views are heard.

Finally, I would like to once again say thank you to all of you who supported Phase One of the campaign so vigorously. Please don’t stop now – PCTs are still considering what to do about polyclinics and GP led health centres, and it’s not too late for you to make a difference and Support NHS General Practice.

Laurence Buckman
Chairman of the General Practitioners Committee

Find out more about the campaign on the Support Your Surgery website